by Tara Ellis
They ended up with a dozen kids, overseen by the four adults, working together to closely monitor the residents of Mercy. The house-check task force was separate from the drinking water delivery, but they did offer river water, or what was lovingly referred to as “The Flush”.
Since Mercy didn’t have a central sewer system, everyone was on septic. Because of that, so long as they had a source of water to pour into the bowl, they could continue flushing. It was one of the things Patty hadn’t thought of, when discussing disaster scenarios in the past, and it had turned out to be extremely important. When it came to sanitation and keeping people healthy, having human feces piling up was something to be avoided at all costs.
That was why making sure everyone had working toilets was part of the house-check task forces duties. The first week proved to be more than the teens could handle, and extra help was needed to get some toilets functioning again. Not everyone had the means to get out and carry the necessary water, so several homes were pretty nasty.
The church bell began to toll, marking the noon hour, and Patty jumped so high she nearly fell over. How Father White still managed to get up to the bell tower and pull that rope was a mystery. Laughing at herself, she went through the practiced gesture of smoothing down her hair to prove she was still in control. As the last gong faded, she moved toward the wagon. “Mind if I catch a ride with you?”
Instead of reaching out a hand to help Patty up, Caleb surprised her by jumping down next to her. Encircling her in his strong arms, he pulled her in close. “I worry about you, Patty,” he said into her hair. “You look so tired.”
Patty drew back and cupped her husband’s face with her hands, drawing on his strength. “I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t.”
Chapter 4
TOM
Near Grahams Place, Montana
Tom resisted the urge to yell at Ethan to slow down. He knew his son was capable of managing his own horse, and it probably wasn’t a bad idea to give the spirited gelding his own head every once in a while. Tom had gone out of his way the past two days to treat Ethan like more of an adult, especially in light of how he’d managed to orchestrate their release from the shelter.
Thanks to a forestry road Ethan’s Army friend told them about, they’d been able to shave several miles off their trip home by cutting east over to Montana Highway 87. After camping next to a lake the night before, their group now headed north again. Tom wasn’t as familiar with the region, although once they crossed Interstate 90, he’d know exactly where they were. From there, they were in the homestretch.
“It’s gorgeous out here,” Danny said as her horse trotted up next to Tom. “I don’t know why I’ve never been down this way before. I guess I was always too busy.”
Tom eyed Danny with some uncertainty. It wasn’t like her to make small talk. He’d come to accept the obvious fact several days ago that she didn’t like being around him. Not that he could blame her, after their initial encounter and his subsequent behavior at the FEMA camp. But something almost imperceptible had shifted over the past twenty-four hours. Since leaving the shelter, Danny was making more eye contact with him, was including him in conversations, and now…making small talk. Unless he was imagining it all, which was entirely possible.
“You’ve got that thousand-yard stare again,” Danny teased, narrowing her eyes at him. “I can’t decide if you’re still suffering from some concussion symptoms, or if you’re just a very serious guy with some deep layers.”
Chuckling, Tom removed his cowboy hat and ran his other hand through his thick, dark hair. “I’m going to have to go with the concussion theory,” he said, smiling back at her. Their eyes met briefly and there was something about the way she looked at him, the cool intelligence that made it clear he wasn’t fooling her.
Replacing his hat, Tom focused on the road ahead of them before gesturing up at the mountains to their west. “I think those are part of the Horn Mountain range,” he explained, choosing to reply to her original comment and avoiding any discussion about his “layers”. “It means we must be back in Montana.”
“We weren’t before?” Danny asked, looking amused.
Tom shifted in his saddle. “On that last part of the forest road and lake, we dipped back into Idaho.”
“Oh,” Danny replied, eyeing him again. “I guess I need to spend more time looking at the maps with you and Sam at night. I haven’t wanted to interrupt your man time.”
Tom looked over at her questioningly and saw that she was teasing him again. Knowing there was no way to back out of the bait she set, he changed the subject. “So, what made you decide to become a firefighter?”
Danny’s brows drew together and she screwed her nose up at him. “Most people ask me about my choice to be a paramedic.”
Feeling on more solid footing with the conversation, Tom shrugged his broad shoulders before smiling at her. “I figure I already know the answer to that. I’m much more intrigued with what motivates you to put on bunker gear and drag heavy equipment around.”
Danny rolled her eyes. “Don’t tell me you’re one of those good ol’ boys who’s shocked anytime he meets a woman who can do a man’s job as well as a man.”
Tom couldn’t help it—he chortled first and then burst out into full laughter. When he saw Danny getting red in the face, he put his hands out to placate her. “I keep forgetting, you obviously haven’t met my mother. She single-handedly ran our ranch for a year after Dad died, and I was raised watching her do things some men can’t. She’s the one who taught me how to fish and how to hunt.”
“Oh,” Danny said quietly, clearly intrigued by the unexpected reaction.
Tom leaned forward against his saddle horn and tipped his hat up so she was sure to see his face and know he was being sincere. “I have the same level of respect for anyone who can step up and get things done when they need to, be they a man or a woman.”
Danny smiled then, and the way it transformed her face made his breath catch. “Honestly, the only reason I ever became a firefighter was because I had to in order to get my paramedic training. In our county, emergency services are fire-based, so you can’t be a medic without first being a firefighter. I specifically got hired on with our department so they’d put me through the classes and get me my certification. But you know what? The first time I put that bunker gear on and started playing with fire, I was hooked. If I could have stopped being a paramedic and stuck to just the fire side of business, I might—” Her voice trailed off and Danny got a faraway look.
“You might what?” Tom pressed, interested in hearing more of her story.
Wiping at her nose, Danny sat up straight and gave her head a shake. “Never mind. A conversation for another time. Preferably over a fire and a beer.”
It was Tom’s turn to smile. “Unless my mom pillaged the stash, I might be able to arrange that in a few days.”
Grace interrupted their discussion with a string of high-pitched barks. It didn’t sound normal and they both pulled their horses to a stop, alarmed.
“Something’s wrong,” Danny said, straining to see where the barking was coming from.
Tom also searched for the source, which was somewhere up ahead of them. Sam’s horse had chased after Tango, leaving Danny and Tom to trail behind. He chastised himself for allowing them to get so spread out. They needed to be more careful, especially on the steep, wooded roads where visibility wasn’t very far.
They’d only encountered a handful of people since leaving the shelter and most of them simply kept to themselves. One woman had happily greeted them and eventually traded a dozen fresh eggs for a mac and cheese MRE. Tucked away in the mountains it was easy to forget what was happening, but given their recent stay with the US government, Tom couldn’t accept any excuses. He knew better than to get so distracted.
“Grace!” he shouted, spurring Lily into a gallop. “Ethan!” his voice echoed through the valley and mixed with Grace’s continued barking. Underlying it was anoth
er new sound, that caused Tom to break his horse into a run.
Other riders, coming through the trees from either side. All he could think about was Ethan and that he’d let him out of his sight. “Ethan!” he yelled again, and this time he heard a reply.
Rounding a bend in the road, Tom first saw Grace bounding toward him, with Ethan and Sam several hundred feet farther away. They were stopped, and Ethan was pointing to the woods, having also heard the approaching horses.
Tom sat up from his crouch and Lily slowed in response. Removing his hat, he lifted it up in the air and waved his arm in a broad circle before pointing it at Ethan and Sam. His son didn’t need any further encouragement, and he turned Tango back around and took off with Sam close behind.
Looking over his shoulder, Tom saw that Danny was struggling to catch up with him. While she was a quick learner and took well to riding, running on pavement with a horse that didn’t have a smooth gait wasn’t easy. “Come on!” he called out, although he knew it wasn’t necessary.
As Danny got close, Tom saw movement from the trees behind them. It hadn’t been more than a few minutes since he first heard them, and the other horses were already on top of them. It was an ambush, and he should have seen it coming.
Danny shot past him, her eyes wide with fear as she fought to stay in the saddle. As Tom turned to follow, he saw two horses lunge out onto the road, the men on their backs hooting as dirt and debris was kicked into the road. They were dressed in rags and covered in filth, looking wild and desperate.
“Ha!” one of the men shouted, urging his horse on as two more riders exploded from the other side of the road.
Tom saw that they were gaining on the pack horse, and while losing it would be a huge blow, they’d be okay. It was only a few more days’ ride to Mercy and they could get along without the supplies. Tom reached for the gun strapped to his leg and turned slightly to peer over his shoulder and get a better view. If he could present a harder target than they thought, while leaving the pack horse behind for the easy picking, there was a chance they’d settle for it and let them go.
Drawing the 1911 from the holster, Tom debated on how to use the last bullet. Everything slowed down as his adrenaline surged and his heart raced. The pack horse fell behind him and then Danny appeared on his right as Lily caught up to the slower horse. He avoided looking at her and instead concentrated on the men, who were quickly gaining on them. The one in the lead had a rifle and he was bringing it around to line up a shot at Tom.
Tom reacted first, and his gun roared as the shot struck the rider high on the chest. The rifle retorted a second later, but the man was already falling backward, causing his round to go wide.
The noise was enough to prompt Danny’s horse to go faster as she clung to anything she could find purchase on. Tom willed her to hold on as he watched her struggle, knowing that if she fell, they were doomed. While it would be enough of a distraction to allow Ethan and Sam to get away, he would do everything he could to prevent them from taking Danny. Tom felt for the large hunting knife strapped to his other leg, reassuring himself that it was there.
The sound of the pursuit didn’t lag, and Tom dared another look, certain it would be met with a bullet. The three remaining riders had passed the pack horse, ignoring it to continue the chase. The fourth man was stopped some distance back, slumped over in his saddle, nursing his wound. Tom didn’t see any other rifles and the three bandits that were left appeared intent on simply catching them. Based on the maniacal smiles he could see, it didn’t seem like much of an alternative to being shot.
Just when Tom thought they might be able to put up a decent fight, two more riders appeared on the road ahead of them. Of course, a proper ambush meant cutting off their escape.
He couldn’t tell if the new attackers had guns, but it really didn’t make a difference. “Charge them!” he shouted to Danny, and he could see her nodding in agreement.
When they were still a hundred feet away, seven other horses came careening down the road, causing the two new bandits to turn and look. At first, Tom thought it might have been Ethan and Sam but it was immediately obvious that this was an entirely different group, dressed in leather and all heavily armed.
“What the—” Danny cried out as her horse balked. At the limit of her abilities, Danny was thrown sideways and then fell, grunting in pain as she hit the pavement.
Tom leaped from Lily’s back before she’d come to a stop and stood over Danny, knife in hand. Arms out, he turned first to his left, and then his right, trying to gauge where the first strike would come from.
To his shock, the new band of riders were continuing their charge, straight for the second group of bandits. The three initial attackers turned around, and Tom realized that they were running away from the leather-clad men. It was then that several shots rang out and Tom ducked instinctively, covering his head. It proved to be unnecessary, as the bullets hit the ground harmlessly in the wake of the retreating riders.
The silence following the melee was deafening, and Tom was acutely aware of Danny’s ragged breathing from behind him as he scrutinized one of their apparent rescuers dismount. He was a large man, and walked like someone who was used to being in charge. Tom blindly put a hand out to help Danny to her feet, while watching him approach.
Stopping at a safe distance, the older man narrowed his eyes as he stared at Tom. His face was deeply lined, and he sported a full beard and moustache. His cowboy hat was clean but well-worn, as were his leather chaps and gloves. Tom knew a rancher when he saw one and he was instantly at ease.
Relaxing his stance, Tom re-sheathed the knife he’d still been clasping and then offered his empty hand. “Name’s Thomas Miller, owner of Miller Ranch up in Mercy.”
The lines around his eyes deepened as the man smiled in response. Taking several steps forward, he took Tom’s hand in a firm grip. “Pleasure to meet ya, Mr. Miller. I’m Jesper Duke. Welcome to Graham County.”
Chapter 5
DANNY
Duke Ranch, Grahams Place, Montana
“What exactly did you think you were going to do?” Danny was looking sideways at Tom as they rode through a vast pasture at the Duke Ranch. Jesper Duke was a man of few words. After brief introductions and what passed for small talk, he offered a good meal and information if they cared to follow him and his men back to his farm. Half an hour later, and he still hadn’t spoken to them again.
“How’s your head?” Tom asked, totally ignoring Danny’s question. She knew he would, since there was no logical explanation for him attempting to fight off a hoard of thieves with only one knife.
Deciding to let it go, she poked gingerly at the small cut in the center of a fading goose egg near her hairline—a parting gift from their stay at FEMA Shelter M3. “She wasn’t that tough,” Danny joked, and then saw that Tom was still scrutinizing her. “Really. It hardly hurts. Dad always said I was hardheaded. Guess he was right.”
“How do we know these guys aren’t going to try and steal all of our stuff, too?” Ethan whispered, moving up in between them. He and Sam had turned back as soon as they’d heard the gunfire, so it was a good thing Jesper and his men showed up when they did.
“It would have already happened if that was his intention,” Sam replied, guiding his horse in between Ethan and Danny.
Riding four abroad, Danny appraised all the men to her left and realized what a motley-looking crew they were. The bruises covering Tom and Ethan’s faces were still fading, and the cut above Tom’s eye was swollen and scabbed over. Danny’s fresh wound on her forehead was just as unsightly, and while Sam didn’t sport any obvious injuries, his Hispanic complexion wasn’t enough to hide the pallor from his illness. He was improving every day and Danny was relieved to see him returning to his old, animated self, but he still looked sickly.
In addition to their rough appearance, they were all dressed in the black garb of the FEMA shelter. Danny could only imagine what they must have looked like to the rancher, and sh
e was curious as to why they’d come to their aid without question.
Jesper Duke chose that moment to glance back at them, and Danny caught his eye. “Mr. Duke,” she called out, spurring her horse forward to catch up with the man. “Why did you help us?” Danny gestured to her face first and then tugged at her black T-shirt. “I mean, I’m sure the whole botched black-ops look is enticing, but it’s not the friendliest getup.”
Jesper chuckled and scratched at his beard. “Most of us here in Graham County have pulled together and done right by each other. However, Nelson and his group chose to go it on their own and have resorted to attacking and taking what they want. He’s always been a problem with the law so it wasn’t much of a surprise. When we heard that first shot, we were on our way back from a scouting trip. I figured someone was in trouble.”
“My father has a tendency to act first and ask questions later. Much later,” a man riding to Jesper’s right added. He looked to be around Tom’s age, in his mid-thirties.
The other five men were riding behind them, and Danny guessed it was as much for safety from Nelson’s group as it was to keep a good eye on their group. While Jesper might be a trusting soul, it was clear that his son wasn’t.
“We appreciate your intervention,” Sam said. “We’ve had enough setbacks during our travels.”
They had come within sight of a large ranch house and Danny’s breath caught when she happened to turn to look at it. Though the sprawling estate was impressive, it was the mountains and farmland surrounding it that was extraordinary. Danny was a poor judge of size, but she had to guess hundreds of acres of pasture spread out from it, spotted with clusters of trees and a couple of ponds. Although it wasn’t that late in the afternoon, the mountains to the west were so incredibly tall, that the sun was already dipping down behind the ridgeline. It reminded Danny of the Grand Tetons and she could imagine the raw beauty of it in the winter, when it was covered in snow.